Wheeler District

[BigD Misey]

Impressive drawings in this morning Oklahoman (Sunday) of the Wheeler district which include both the north and south shores of the Oklahoma River at Western Avenue.

Sorry, I knew that it looked familiar (above thread link) dah! It looked so much more impressive in this morning's print paper (LMAO).

Seeing how this project looks like its gaining momentum, does anyone think maybe Wheeler Park might be a good area for a Convention Center?



(Pardon the rudimentary drawing)
*Q: Does the city already own it?
*It is waterside!
*The Hotel would overlook Central park North (caddy corner)
*Hotel location is primo on I-40
The City would need to purchase Zone 2 for sure for development to inspire a hotel suitor
But I think zone one would be the hot spot. Between 499 Sheridan all the way down Walker to the Wheeler District.
*Pretty quickly after the purchase of zone 2, the city should then look to purchase Zones 3 and 4 for future development before values escalate.
*This CC location may also spark more interest in the Stockyard area and Farmers Market area as well as attract developers to the area from 12th ST down to the river.
*This plan would give a full 3 miles of attractive, walkable riverfront between the Convention Center, Parks and the Rapids Center.
*It wouldn’t take a lot to extend the streetcar down from Union Station to the Convention Center and Wheeler District
*Maybe the old abandoned tracks could be used to bring travelers up from the Airport to the Hotel on a small 2 car train which would also be a plus. Could build a station in Zone 2 in front of the Hotel and the Streetcar can route thru there.

Just daydreaming here!

[Paseofreak]

It's all owned by the Humphreys.

[SOONER8693]

Impressive drawings in this morning Oklahoman (Sunday) of the Wheeler district which include both the north and south shores of the Oklahoma River at Western Avenue.

Sorry, I knew that it looked familiar (above thread link) dah! It looked so much more impressive in this morning's print paper (LMAO).

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

[BigD Misey]

Awww man!

Big dreams ballon deflated!

[AP]

Considering I'm 25 I think it's definitely possible that in 50 years it could be built out like that. I don't know why you would think otherwise.

[CaptDave]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

Always with the negative waves Moriarty....... I would not be surprised to see it look very similar to that in a decade, maybe less.

[BigD Misey]

It's all owned by the Humphreys.

Just for clarification, what area does he own? just Wheeler Park? or all zones? Surely not!

[Mississippi Blues]

Considering I'm 25 I think it's definitely possible that in 50 years it could be built out like that. I don't know why you would think otherwise.

I'm 20. I would like to think I could make it to 70, but I guess I'm out of luck.

[jccouger]

What is in that picture that is so unrealistic? There is nothing but 3-4 story buildings. In that picture alone there is approx 20 individual buildings. I don't see why it would take that long to have this built out, especially once a distinctive, unique and exciting landmark is built in the area which is the ferris wheel. This is a perfectly sitatued area between downtown, the river, a huge park with sporting venues, the farmers market, stockyards city and capital hill. This project is very exciting and developers are going to want a piece of the prize. You are being extremely ridiculous with your negativity.

[Urbanized]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

What a ridiculous statement. There are APARTMENT COMPLEXES routinely built on the scale of what's in that photo in OKC. There are much-larger high-end housing developments that go from dirt to build-out in five to ten years in the north metro. It's routine.

This developer has significant financial resources, plus several homebuilders lining up to build in this development. This includes his residential development advisor, who has built very successful multi-family downtown AND whose family business is the largest homebuilder in the state.

Again, ridiculous statement. Silly.

[Plutonic Panda]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

That is incorrect. This area could easily become like this within the next decade or two of the push and demand is really there; we already have demand.

[catcherinthewry]

Don't feed the troll.

[David]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

Not with that attitude. Fortunately, the people developing it don't share it.

[betts]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

Did you see Deep Deuce 10 years ago?

[Pete]

If they can hit the market they are aiming for -- those who are currently priced out of downtown -- then they can be wildly successful.

If they end up coming in at just a little less than what is for sale or lease right now, then they are going to face some challenges.

But they know this better than anyone and I suspect they will resist what almost everyone else has done: Promise more affordable units and then actually come to market with rates considerably higher.

[Bellaboo]

That area will never look like that in the lifetime of anyone that currently posts on this board.

Aren't you a ray of sunshine. Do you see the future ?

[Teo9969]

There are just a ton of unknowns at this point for anyone to make statements about the viability of a project this size.

For the most part, we can't really even make statements about the viability of downtown OKC. We could find over the next 3 years that downtown is maxing out the current demand…we could equally find that we're still behind demand by 25,000 units. It's very likely in the middle of those 2 things. But the thing is, if downtown does not find a ceiling in the next 20 years (and it likely won't), this kind of project finds itself with a market.

The biggest question about this project, to me, is do they have the capital, investors, etc. in place to build the entire skeleton of a viable self-sustaining urban neighborhood before 2020?

[soonerguru]

Wil this reverse the "good gene pool emigration?"

[dcsooner]

Build the Native American cultural center. Build 4 new towers in OKC, build a Convention Center and Hotel, build a streetcar system AND THEN start talking about a project of this magnitude. OKC always talks big and ends up small or with nothing at all. Devon Tower being the exception. Look at the cities history. Given the cities past performance jumping on people that express justifiable skepticism regarding this project is unwarrtanted.

[kevinpate]

Why in the world would development of Wheeler need to wait an additional eight years to a decade or more?

Ignore the AICCM. After the Speaker botched up that funding workout last year, who knows what OKC will end up doing with that plot once it takes back its dirt (which hopefully will be this year rather than having the state drop another mil or near about that while the less than impressive power that be and other house echelon play sit and spin on their thumbs.)

The streetcar, ok but not my favorite thing in the world, is well on its way all the same.

There will be a CC, and likely a hotel, and a private developer waiting on these before kicking in housing at the river makes no sense at all.

And though they are not devonesque, yo have the Sheridan 499, the OG&E, and other projects starting to move forward. OKC has some flaws in how it goes about things, but thankfully it is not a one trick pony town.

[Just the facts]

Wheeler Neighborhood (don't know why they called it a district) is going to be crazy succesful and will be done much faster than anyone, even the developers, can possibly imagine.

[Plutonic Panda]

Wheeler Neighborhood (don't know why they called it a district) is going to be crazy succesful and will be done much faster than anyone, even the developers, can possibly imagine.

I think so as well.

[SOONER8693]

Build the Native American cultural center. Build 4 new towers in OKC, build a Convention Center and Hotel, build a streetcar system AND THEN start talking about a project of this magnitude. OKC always talks big and ends up small or with nothing at all. Devon Tower being the exception. Look at the cities history. Given the cities past performance jumping on people that express justifiable skepticism regarding this project is unwarrtanted.

I've lived in Oklahoma almost my entire life. I've seen time and time again how things end up being done in Oklahoma/Oklahoma City. I hope this turns out different. If this were proposed in texas, I'd say it was a slam dunk.

[Plutonic Panda]

I've lived in Oklahoma almost my entire life. I've seen time and time again how things end up being done in Oklahoma/Oklahoma City. I hope this turns out different. If this were proposed in texas, I'd say it was a slam dunk.

That is true. I have my hopes up though this will be different.

[bchris02]

Build the Native American cultural center. Build 4 new towers in OKC, build a Convention Center and Hotel, build a streetcar system AND THEN start talking about a project of this magnitude. OKC always talks big and ends up small or with nothing at all. Devon Tower being the exception. Look at the cities history. Given the cities past performance jumping on people that express justifiable skepticism regarding this project is unwarrtanted.

I agree with this. I can also understand skepticism given the track record of things in this town.

However, I think the project can work out as long as the developer has both vision and funds to make it happen. The problem in OKC is developers rarely have both. These developers have the vision. In terms of demand, this kind of development has worked in other cities the size of OKC and even smaller all across the country. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be hugely successful here. I don't think Wheeler needs to wait an additional decade like some have said. The demand is there now; OKC just needs real estate developers with vision.